July 17, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Producer prices up in June due to energy price increase

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods advanced 0.6 percent in June, seasonally adjusted. This index showed no change in May and declined 0.3 percent in April.

[Chart data—TXT]

Prices for finished energy goods jumped 5.1 percent, following a 0.5- percent decline in May, and caused June's acceleration in the finished goods index. By contrast, the index for finished consumer goods other than foods and energy edged down 0.1 percent, after increasing 0.2 percent a month ago.

During the first six months of 2000, the finished goods price index advanced at a 4.8-percent seasonally adjusted annual rate, after rising at a 3.8-percent rate during the latter half of 1999. Leading this acceleration, prices for finished energy goods rose at a 26.6-percent annual rate in the first half of this year, following a 20.7-percent annual rate of increase during the final six months of last year.

From June 1999 to June 2000, prices for finished goods gained 4.3 percent (unadjusted). During the same period, the index for finished energy goods increased 23.4 percent, finished goods other than foods and energy rose 1.4 percent, and finished consumer foods advanced 1.6 percent.

These data are a product of the BLS Producer Price Index program. Find out more in Producer Price Indexes, June 2000, news release USDL 00-202. All producer price indexes are routinely subject to revision once, 4 months after original publication, to reflect the availability of late reports and corrections by respondents.